Verstappen delivers a masterclass win to oust McLaren duo
- Meghana Sree
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Written by Meghana Sree
Max Verstappen brings home a victory in Italy to mark Red Bull’s 400th Grand Prix after expertly seizing the lead from pole-sitter Oscar Piastri, who finished third behind teammate Lando Norris.
Formula One is back racing around the historic venues sprinkled across the European continent, with our first stop of this phase being the famed circuit at Imola.
The starting grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was led by Oscar Piastri with his third pole of the season, but the big headline was the home favourite Ferrari duo sitting in 11th and 12th.
The final car to move into position was Yuki Tsunoda who, after a disastrous crash in Qualifying, was starting from the pitlane.
As the lights blinked out, Piastri had a decent launch but was immediately pipped by Max Verstappen with immaculate race craft and a surprise manoeuvre around therace craft and a surprise manoeuvre around the outside of the first corner in a move that won Verstappen his Grand Prix.
From that moment onwards, the Dutchman did not look back and sprinted off into the distance, leaving Piastri to focus on fending off George Russell.
Russell for his part was battling mechanical issues again, and was eventually passed by Lando Norris by Lap 11 after which he found himself leading a DRS (Drag Reduction System) train.
Early stops were from Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson, even before finishing 20 laps, which was the projected pitstop window prior to the race.
This proved to be the right call for Ferrari, as Leclerc was comfortably ahead of Russell and Carlos Sainz, who had both started further up the grid than him.
However the gains he made from this undercut were quickly undone as the event saw its first race-defining moment when Esteban Ocon pulled over on Lap 28, signalling a VSC (Virtual Safety Car).
The VSC was ruinous for all those who had already stopped, including Piastri, Leclerc and Sainz, who peeled back into the pits for a cheap stop. Meanwhile, it was an opportune moment for race leader Verstappen as well as Williams driver Alex Albon, who found himself as high as P3 in the previous lap.
Another moment that had huge consequences on the race was Kimi Antonelli’s heartbreaking retirement after a mechanical fault on the car. The home-hero came to a halt on Lap 46, necessitating a full Safety Car release.
This allowed the drivers like Albon and Norris to bolt on fresher tyres, while Leclerc and Piastri were left out on old hard tyres.
The Safety Car restart promised chaos, with massive tyre offsets between drivers positioned closely together. The first major victim of this offset was Piastri, who was bested by Norris on fresher tyres.
Later on, a dramatic moment of hard racing between Leclerc on old compounds and Albon on new ones saw the Ferrari driver ordered by his team to hand Albon the position back instead of risking a penalty. Albon went on to match his season-best finish of P5, ahead of Leclerc in sixth.
Lewis Hamilton capitalised on this late-race drama in his first home race with Ferrari, and finished fourth, missing the podium by a second and a half. After being stuck behind Antonelli for the most part of the race, Hamilton eventually managed to climb up the ranks to claim his best Grand Prix finish of the season in his new outfit.
The tail end of the top ten was occupied by Russell, Sainz, Isack Hadjar and Tsunoda. Though these four bagged points, they’re undoubtedly disappointed as more was on the table in Imola, especially for Russell who started third.
Just missing out on his long-awaited first points of the season was Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martin team was all set for a great Sunday after taking a gamble on Saturday and qualifying fifth and eighth.
For Alonso starting on the third row, it was an eventful race but ultimately not fruitful. With everything from brake fires and unlucky strategy plaguing his race, the Spaniard continues his streak of point-less finishes.
Nico Hülkenberg followed Alonso in 12th, after being outqualified by his teammate again but emerging ahead come race day. Gabriel Bortoleto on the other hand ended up in 18th after botched strategy calls and slow pace.
He was joined by fellow rookie Ollie Bearman in 17th, who was the sole finisher for Haas after Ocon’s early retirement.
Ahead of Bearman, Colapinto completed his tenth F1 Grand Prix, taking in more learnings for his next outing. His teammate Pierre Gasly classified 13th, not where he was hoping to finish after starting tenth.
An early battle between him and Leclerc which saw the French driver run across the gravel was the first unfortunate incident for him, which was followed by bad luck with the VSC and Safety Car for him.
The timing of these interventions dramatically influenced the race, but the race winner Verstappen remained unfazed and as collected as ever. The defending champion proves that although McLaren have the upper hand, he’s not letting them have it too easy.
Sharing his thoughts on his fourth win at Imola, Verstappen said: “I’m incredibly proud of everyone. It’s been a very important week for us, the car has performed really well, and also I think the whole execution of the whole race, when to pit, the pit stops themselves, were all very good.”
While Verstappen undoubtedly aims to reclaim the championship lead, Piastri still sits at the top despite his third place finish. Norris meanwhile is just nine points ahead of Verstappen, and will have to watch out for the Dutchman’s hunt during this triple header.
F1 travels to the glamorous and iconic Circuit de Monaco next week, where the battle for glory will resume.
Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Results
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Lando Norris, McLaren +6.109
Oscar Piastri, McLaren +12.956
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +14.356
Alexander Albon, Williams +17.945
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +20.774
George Russell, Mercedes +22.034
Carlos Sainz, Williams +22.898
Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls +23.586
Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing +26.446
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +27.250
Nico Hülkenberg, Kick Sauber +30.296
Pierre Gasly, Alpine +31.424
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +32.511
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +32.993
Franco Colapinto, Alpine +33.411
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team +33.808
Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber +38.572
DNF Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
DNF Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team
